NumisMedia Weekly Market Report
Current News and Analysis of the
United States Rare Coin Market
September 8, 2008

Dealers Anticipate Active Long Beach Expo
The Long Beach Expo is a little over one week away and the market for rare coins remains solid. Buyers, whether they are dealers or collectors, are very aggressive for coins they feel have potential because of various rarity factors. The focus for most buyers centers on coins that are not readily available, coins with a low original mintage, low census for the grade and/or great eye appeal for the grade.

Major auctions continue to attract throngs of buyers because they usually contain numerous lots with the above mentioned characteristics. Bowers and Merena, Ira and Larry Goldberg, and Superior Galleries all have major sales this next week in Southern California. If these sales are not enough to satisfy the thousands of active bidders, Heritage Galleries will host the Official Long Beach Expo Auction. Not only can you find many of the rarities you need, the wonderful catalogues that these companies produce contain enormous amounts of historical data to consume students of numismatics.

In this week’s HD Wholesale Market Dealer Price Guide increases are seen throughout all series. Bust and Seated coins still garner much of the attention of serious collectors. High grades seem to attract new record prices every time a low census coin is offered. Since the last HD, gold has rebounded somewhat so we have many increases for common $5, $10, and $20 Gold. Some analysts believe the gold market could rise after the elections and many buyers feel this is a good time to buy at these lower prices. We are reporting several declines this week in DMPL Dollars. Because of recent transactions, various dates have adjusted downward; however, there are still many rare issues on the upswing.